Game 84: G'z Iz G'z

Gio Gonzalez gets the ball for the A's as the Yankees go for the sweep. That is all.

'Cause bustaz is bustaz, and G's iz G's,
But ain't nobody fuckin' 'round wit' MCs like these.

-Lineups-

Maybe later?

Trembely's Time?

Rise and shine, Fackers. According to the Baltimore Sun, Dave Trembley is going to be fired before today's game. Or perhaps he was already canned when the team return from New York last night. He was supposedly close to getting axed about a week ago, but that rumor proved to be false. Even if it isn't today, the writing is certainly on the wall.

Directly and indirectly, the Yankees led to Trembley's termination. Their sweep of the O's is likely the last straw and their presence in the AL East - the Yanks were 36-15 against Baltimore in his tenure - made their quest for a respectable season much more difficult.

The O's are obviously having a dismal 2010. Thanks to a couple of blown saves, they got off to a 1-11 start and have only improved upon that marginally since. They are now 15-39, which puts them a whopping 21 games behind the Rays one-third of the way through the season. In theory, they are playing roughly at the pace you would expect a team comprised solely of replacement level players to perform. And their run differential only says that they should be two games better than they are.

You have to imagine - for a marginal team in a division as tough as the AL East - the players knew their season was over before it had even really started. The fans knew it too, because they set a record for the fewest number of people at Camden Yards when the team was just 1-5 and came very close to topping bottoming that twice against the Royals in May.

These guys are professionals, but when it's obvious that your season is completely fucked and the only time people show up to see if is when the Yankees or Red Sox are in town, it's gotta be tough. Tough to grind out at bats as a hitter when you are down by right runs like they were on Wednesday. It has to be demoralizing for a starting pitcher like Brian Matusz who pitched a hell of a game on Tuesday only to get tagged with the loss because of an unforced throwing error. The YES cameras panned to him for a reaction but he had already vanished down the dugout steps.

Of course, only so much of this is Trembley's fault. I don't know how big his family is, but there isn't much he can do to fill the stands. He didn't injure Brian Roberts, Koji Uehara, Felix Pie, Jim Johnson or Mike Gonzalez. He definitely didn't blow all of those saves in the beginning of the year. Perhaps he bears some responsibility for the fact that the Orioles don't appear to be playing to the level they are capable of - that he "lost" the team - but I don't know if there is a manager out there who could have kept this team from spiraling out of control after those tough losses and subsequent brutal start.

While Trembley's 187-282 record during his time with the team isn't impressive, the fact that he got the job in the first place certainly is. When Sam Perlazzo got fired 69 games into the 2007 season, Trembley was promoted from bullpen coach to interim manager. He never played the game professionally and instead comes from a more academic background (he has a masters in Education and did graduate work in Sports Psychology), but Andy MacPhail, who had recently taken over as the president of baseball operations, gave him a chance anyway. The team started off 20-14 under the new skipper, he kept his job until the end of the year and finally lost the "interim" part of his title over the winter.

Trembley more than paid his dues, managing for 20 years in the minor leagues before joining the Big League club, so that was one of the reasons that Andy McPhail thought it would be good idea to allow him to oversee a couple of rebuilding seasons. It didn't quite go as planned and in a year when the O's were supposed to take a big step forward and possibly flirt with .500, they took an even bigger one backwards and are on pace for one of the worst seasons in a very long time.

Perhaps third base coach Juan Samuel - who did play in the Majors for 16 seasons - or whoever else takes over the team when Trembley is ultimately whacked will have better results. But it will probably be because some of those five guys on the DL come back from injuries, Matt Wieters, Adam Jones and Miguel Tejada start hitting and Matusz and Brad Bergensen start pitching to their potential.

Given how his tenure with the O's went, it's tough to see Trembley landing another Major League managerial gig, but at least he can say he got a shot and made the most out of it. From a distance, he seems like a stand up baseball man and hopefully he lands on his feet somewhere.

Derek, Lou, And The Other Guys Too

The Yankees completed a four game sweep of the Rays tonight, using yet another comeback win to continue their dominant run through the season's second half and further crush the Rays now nearly non-existent post-season hopes. That wasn't the story of the game.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jorge Posada came to the plate as a pinch hitter with one out and runners on the corners. He worked a full count, then blasted a go-ahead three run homer to right, giving the Yankees the only lead they would need all night. That wasn't the story of the game.

Derek Jeter, as you may have heard, came into this homestand needing just three hits to tie Lou Gehrig atop the Yankees' all time leaderboard. In the three games since, Jeter has gone 0 for 12, allowing that story to linger. And that was the story of tonight's game.

Jeter led off the bottom of the first. With Evan Longoria playing back, Jeter resorted to an old slump buster, dropping the first pitch down the third baseline for a bunt single. After grounding out in the third, Jeter came up again in the fifth, driving a 2-2 slider to deep center field for a ground rule double and bringing him within one of the Iron Horse.

In the seventh, Jeter came up with two outs, no one on, and the Yankees trailing 2-0. For the fourth time on the night, Rays starter Jeff Niemann threw Jeter a first pitch fastball. Jeter pounced on it, with his familiar inside-out swing, and punched a basehit through the right side. The ballpark and both dugouts erupted with a standing ovation. In a subtle, but poignant moment, YES showed Yankees Head Athletic Trainer Gene Monahan, in the Yankees organization since 1962 and in his current position since 1973, standing at the top of the dugout steps, applauding with the rest of the team.

Johnny Damon followed with a single of his own, making it appear that Jeter's historic hit might also be the start of a rally. But Mark Teixeira fanned to end the threat.

Aside from giving the Yankees the lead, Posada's one out homer in the eighth ensured that Jeter would get another plate appearance on the night. Jeter stepped in for his fifth plate appearance of the night with no one on and two outs. Jeter worked a seven pitch walk, much to the chagrin of the crowd and more the disappointment of Yankees' play-by-play man Michael Kay who has been painfully wringing ever last possible ounce of drama out of this chase. Hyperbolic even by his lofty standards, Kay called it "the most underrated walk in the history of baseball". Sure it is.

As for the rest of the game, Joba Chamberlain turned in a start that was rather representative of his 2009 season. He needed 32 pitches to get through the first inning, surrendering a leadoff home run to Jason Bartlett, two singles, a walk, a wild pitch, three strikeouts and leaving the Yanks in a two run hole before they even picked up a bat. Appropriately, a mound visit midway through the first from the man of evening seemed to change Joba's approach. Chamberlain settled down from there, throwing a perfect second and third inning and retiring the last eight batters he faced after the Captain's visit. With his pitch count at 55 through three, Joba's night was over, marking his third consecutive start of just three innings.

Alfredo Aceves followed and turned in an outstanding performance, going three shutout, hitless innings in which he allowed just a walk and K'd three. The Yankees still dormant bats prevented Alf from getting his 11th relief victory of the year. Jonathan Albaladejo then tossed two perfect frames to pick up the win, and Brian Bruney and Phil Coke combined to close out the ninth.

Derek Jeter is deservedly the man of the hour with his historic achievement coming tonight. However, this game, like so many other this year, was an impressive team effort in which several players - Jeter, Posada, Alf, Albaladejo, A-Rod, Hideki Matsui - all made important contributions to another Yankee victory.

Jeter will take his swings at the record on Friday night. Rest assured that tomorrow's off day will be flooded with talk about the impending accomplishment. We'll be here for you to discuss that and more. See you in the morning.

Another Sweep Of The Birds

Despite what the final score indicates, the series finale against the Orioles was a tightly contested game - at least it was for eight innings.

Coming off his superb August, CC Sabathia struggled a bit at the outset of his first September start. He allowed singles to two of the first three batters he faced, then fell behind 1-0 on a sacrifice fly. In the second he gave up three singles to load the bases, but fanned the next two batters to end the frame. It was his last real scare for the night, and the Big Fella continued his recent hot streak with seven innings, seven hits, a lone run, a walk, and nine Ks.

Like the Orioles, the Yankees had no problems putting runners on base, but had difficulty bringing them home. Orioles starter Jason Berken allowed eight hits and two walks in 5.1 innings of work, yet was charged with just a single run as the Yankees left nine runners on base through the first six innings. The Yankees did manage to tie it up on an Eric Hinske solo shot in the third.

In the seventh, the Yankees finally managed a lead. Johnny Damon led off with a single, then Nick Swisher - batting third as Mark Teixeira got a night off - doubled to put two runners in scoring position for Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod, who tallied his 2,500th career hit in the fifth, added number 2,501 and gave the Yankees a lead they wouldn't relinquesh.

Brian Bruney, Phil Coke, and Phil Hughes recorded an out each in the eighth, but the O's cut the lead to one as Bruney gave a up a Nolan Reimold homer. With Mariano Rivera unavailable for the ninth due to a sore groin, the Yankees lead seemed even more tenuous.

The Yankee offense took all the suspense out of the game in the ninth, plating seven runs as they nickel and dimed the O's to death with two walks, seven singles, and zero extra base hits. The first five Yankees to come to the plate in the inning reached base safely, as did four of five Yankees batters between the first and third outs. While the Yankee offense got to pad their stats a bit more, the inning served as an apt representation of both the depth of the current Yankee line up and the general state of affairs in Baltimore for the past 12 seasons.

Despite the eight run lead, Phil Hughes, in need of innings, pitched the ninth to earn his second Major League save. He'll serve as the acting closer until Mo's ready to return. The bullpen will warrant watching this weekend with Mo out and Chad Gaudin, Joba Chamberlain, and Sergio Mitre starting three of the four games in Toronto, followed by a double header on Monday. The bullpen, currently at nine mortals and one dinged-up Mo, will likely have a lot of work ahead of them.


The game closed the season series against Baltimore. After dropping the first two games of the season in Baltimore, the Yankees have gone 12-1 against the O's, takiing the last ten in a row, and the sweeping the last three series between them. They'll meet three times more, in the Bronx next weekend.

Sweeping Up After The Weekend

I know this is Matt's line, but since he's in New Hampshire this morning... Good morning, Fackers. And it's a good morning, indeed.

Going into this series, we said that Yankees vs. Red Sox games are different, said that all indications were that the Yankees had the advantage and predicted that the Stadium would finally come alive. We were lucky enough to be right on all three counts and anyone, well any Yankees fan, who watched the entire series was treated to a satisfying performance in which the Bombers looked like what their record says they are: The best team in baseball.

Over the long haul, you have to look at numbers like run differential to even out the ups and downs of the season, but over a short series against a heated rival, it's hard not notice that the Yankees seemingly ripped the momentum away from the Red Sox at every juncture possible. When the Sox jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning on Thursday, the Yanks immediately tied it up on a homer by Johnny Damon. When the Sox back back with two more in the 4th, the Bombers responded with 8. They finsihed out the series by allowing two runs over the next 32 innings, both of which were quickly erased by back to back jacks from Damon and Teixeira.

We try not to talk a whole lot about "momentum" and "clutch" and other fluffy intangibles which evade statistical verification of their existence in the long run on this site, but this weekend the Yankees made it impossible not to do so. A-Rod found two incredibly high leverage situations to hit two home runs, as did Johnny Damon. The bullpen allowed only 4 runs in 14 1/3 IP, while the only runs allowed by a Yankees starter were the 5 Joba Chamberlain gave up Thursday night. In short, the Yankees stepped up to the plate and made this a turning point in the season.

Taking four games from the Red Sox all but deletes the memory of the first eight they lost. The Yanks had already overcome those in the overall standings and all that was left was the notion that the Red Sox had their number, which Nick Swisher responded to by saying "but we changed cell-phone providers".

It's been a long time since the Yankees and their fans have had reason to be riding this high. Not since 2006, when they swept the Sox in a 5 game series which also put them 6.5 games ahead, perhaps. Big Papi got one hit all series and Dustin Pedroia unfortunately had to break the news that he is in fact not magical.

The Yanks have won 31 of their last 41 games and are on pace for 100 wins. They are 27 games above .500, which is pretty incredible since they were actually below that mark 33 games into the season. How quickly we forget.

Who knows, maybe they will suffer a let down when they welcome Toronto to the Stadium tonight and Sergio Mitre takes the hill. But let's enjoy this feeling while it lasts.

"You Got No Wins Here, So Better Luck Next Time"

Victor Martinez probably thought he was going to be the hero of last night's game. You could tell by the way he watched his two run homer run off Phil Coke soar into the left field seats in the eighth inning. It was understandable. He was 1-14 in the series to that point, the Red Sox had been trailing 1-0 and were mired in a 31 inning, 116 plate appearance scoreless drought. The difference between 4.5 games back and 6.5 is increasingly significant at this point in the season considering there are only 6 head to head match ups remaining. Instead of saving the Red Sox from a brutal four game sweep, Martinez's shot was more of a last stand; a heroic effort that only temporarily stemmed the tide.

The game started as another pitcher's duel up. Andy Pettitte distributed seven baserunners over 7 innings while striking four without allowing a run. Jon Lester was almost as good, with the only run he allowed in 7 frames coming on a solo shot to A-Rod in the bottom of the seventh inning to break the scoreless tie.

Daniel Bard came on in the bottom of the 8th and looked as if he was about to hand the lead over to Jonathan Papelbon after Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter both grounded out after a barrage of 97 and 98MPH fastballs. However, Johnny Damon scorched the next one of those he saw into the Yankee bullpen. For the third time in the series, the Red Sox had taken the lead and the Yankees responded by scoring in the next half inning. But they weren't done there.

With Mark Teixeira at the plate, Bard went away from his fastball and instead threw two breaking pitches. In stark contrast to Damon's bullet before, Teix turned on the second one and lofted a sky high shot down the right field line and followed it towards first base with his bat lofted triumphantly in the air. It hung in the air interminably, allowing the crowd noise to swell even louder before landing in the second deck. Teix stole Victor Martinez's thunder and then took a curtain call to top it off. Bard had faced 138 hitters in his major league career to that point and allowed just one home run. Make that that 140 and 3.

Bard allowed the inning to continue by walking A-Rod and was lifted in favor of Hideki Okijima. The lefty allowed three consecutive base hits, a double to Jorge Posada and singles to Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher, which pushed the Yankee lead to 5-2. In all, they sent six runners to plate with two outs in the 8th.

The Sox brought the tying run to plate in the top of the ninth after Mariano Rivera walked David Ortiz, but Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to first base to end the game.

The Sox are now reeling, having lost 6 straight and fallen into a tie with the Rangers for the Wild Card with the Rays lurking only a game and a half behind them. The Yanks have won seven straight and have the best record in baseball.

I know we don't usually drop songs in our game recaps, but this one is too good to pass up.

Straight like that, straight out the gate,
Cause it's never too late, to set this fuckin' record straight.

But it is too late, for you and your crew, son,
You had the audacity to come against me, the gifted one?
And Primo with the tracks, to inspire my next line,
You've got no wins here, so better luck next time.

You thought you brought your best lines,
But they couldn't touch mine,
I rocked you in your knot,
Hope you have better luck next time.

A Two Game Sweep Is Still A Sweep, Am I Right?

When Sergio Mitire took the mound in the first inninng and struck out Marco Scutaro and Aaron Hill to begin the game, it looked like he might be headed for a solid outing. After he proceeded to give up consecutive four base hits including two run scoring singles to Vernon Wells and Alex Rios and it looked like he was destined for a horrible one. Neither of those tunred out to be true.

Mitre settled down and followed the two run first inning with three scoreless ones, working around two more singles and two walks. Meanwhile, the Yankees responded with two runs of their own in the top of the 3rd, staying right on the Jays' heels.

To begin the 5th inning, Mitre got Aaron Hill to ground out but then allowed a huge blast to right field by Adam Lind. It was the only extra base hit he allowed all night. After giving up a single to Lyle Overbay, he was taken out of the game in favor of Anthony Claggett, who had been brought up specifically for this purpose Alfredo Aceves. Four and a third innings is not nearly long enough of an outing for a starter, but he only gave up three runs which isn't all that bad.

Alf got Vernon Wells to pop out before Alex Rios struck out looking to end the inning. He came back on for the sixth and sat down the side in order, two more via strike out.

After playing catch up until that point, the Yanks finally came alive in the top of the 7th. Nick Swisher led off the inning with a homer, which Robinson Cano followed with a double. That was the end for zep-CHIN-ski. The rookie lefty put together a solid effort, striking out 7 in six innings and left when the game was still tied. That didn't last long, though.

Cito Gaston called on Josh Roenicke, who got Melky Cabrera to ground out to second, advancind Cano to third. He was driven in on a single by pinch bitter Hideki Matsui which put the Yanks on top 4-3. Jose Molina walked, Jeter struck out swinging but Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira both tacked on run scoring singles. In all, 10 men batted in the inning and four of them crossed the plate.

Cano doubled and scored again in the top of the 8th, but Aceves gave up a homer to Marco Scutaro in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 3 run game. According to Pete Abe, if Johnny Damon hadn't hit a solo shot of his own in the top of the 9th, Girardi would have called on Mariano Rivera for the third game in a row, after two four out saves, taking him out of the picture for tonight's game against the Sox. To protect a 3 run lead... More on Girardi's questionable decisions in a bit.

For now, we can take comfort in a few things. First, the road trip ended in the black at 5-4. Secondly, the Yanks' margin in the AL East is, as it was when then embarked on the 9 game swing, 2.5 games over the Red Sox. Third, Alfredo Aceves looked to be back to his normal self tonight, throwing sharp breaking stuff and a fastball that was touching 92 MPH. He struck out three in two innings and the only hit he allowed was the homer to Scutaro. These are good notes to head back to the Bronx upon.

20 Over

[Photos via ESPN/AP]

For the second game in a row, the score ended up 6-4 in favor of the home team. For the second time this season, the Yankees have completed a sweep of the Orioles at the New Yankee Stadium. They've held their opponents to 2 1/3 runs per game on this homestand and have taken each of the six games by the slim margins of either one or two runs. They're now 1.5 games up on the Sox and 20 games over .500 for the first time since 2007.

The Yanks struck early, jumping out to a comfortable lead in the first inning and never looking back. They scored four times against Jason Berken before it was over, with A-Rod and Cano driving in a run each and Swish adding a two out single for two RBIs of his own. Jorge Posada chipped in a solo home run in the third inning to make the score 5-0, where it would stay until the 7th inning. He added an RBI double in the 8th.

A.J. Burnett kept the Orioles at bay by working around two baserunners in each of the first four innings but then settled down in the 5th and 6th allowing only a walk to the illustrious Greg Zaun in between those 6 outs. The O's did managed to scratch across two runs in the 7th. The first one came on a sac fly and the second crossed the plate when Burnett struck out Aubrey Huff on a nasty curveball for what should have been the third out of the inning. Instead, the ball bounced off the plate and rolled far enough away from Posada for Adam Jones to sprint in from 3rd.

Over his 7 innings, Burnett allowed 6 hits, struck out 6 and walked 3. Although his pitch count started to climb in the early innings, he settled down a bit and ended with 104 (68 for strikes). He was seemingly in control at all times, even though he was constantly pitching from the stretch. A.J. was both helped and hurt by Nick Swisher, who made an E6 to start the 3rd but redeemed himself with a running (and run-saving) catch to end the inning and another against the wall in the 5th.

Phil Hughes pitched a scoreless frame in the 8th, and with a four run lead going into the 9th, Joe Girardi called on Brian Bruney to finish the game. He struck out the first two batters he faced before being stopped in his tracks by back to back solo homers from Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. Mo came on to clean up the spill and stuck out Aubrey Huff looking to end the game and picked up a cheapie save. It was win #9 on the season for Burnett and the fourth straight decision that's gone in his favor.

After the game, Bruney flippantly answered reporters' questions saying, among other things “I just wanted to get Mo a save, that’s what a set-up man does". He also said that he has his best stuff of the year and felt like he did back in April. It's seemingly becoming a trend for Yankees' pitchers to react delusionally to their bad outings and refuse to admit their mistakes. Joe Girardi didn't seem to have a problem with it, but giving up back to back jacks in 2/3 of an inning of work isn't "pitching well" no matter how you cut the cake.

The Sox are on ESPN tonight at 8:00 as they look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rangers and keep their deficit in the division at 1 and lead in the Wild Card at 3.5. In case you didn't hear, they made some exciting moves today, ones that will surely have a major impact on the pennant race (not really).

How do you like the view from the top?

These Aren't The Washington Generals

The Nationals are a bad team. I think we can all agree on that. Being 30 games under .500 at this point in the season puts them on pace to lose roughly 120 games. That is mind-bogginglingly awful. But it doesn't mean that anything less than a sweep against them is a disgrace.

Beat writers don't play the "sweep or die" card very often, but they have in spades for this series.

Ken Davidoff:

Big-picture usually dominates this column. No game, or series, exists in a vacuum - at least, before September. But this week at Yankee Stadium, we're tossing the big picture in the garbage.

The Nationals are so horrible that a Yankees loss to them is virtually inexcusable.

Joel Sherman:

I try hard never to talk about must wins unless games truly are must wins or to apply weighty proportions to games in June. However, I will say this: The Yankees can't just win a series against Washington starting tomorrow. Anything less than a sweep is abject failure.

Pete Abe:

It’s tough to say the Yankees need to sweep. The Nats do figure to show up, after all. But winning two out of three won’t be satisfactory against this team.

In 21 series this year, the Nationals have "only" been swept seven times. Not doing something that only one out of three teams that has faced them this year have been able to do would be an "abject failure"? Remember when the Pirates top prospects lost to Manatee Community College? It's still baseball, guys. I understand the temptation to demand a sweep, but as last night goes to show, it only takes one bad pitch (especially in the New Yankee Stadium) to turn a game around.

After last night's loss, the Nationals' record is 16-46. A wining percentage of .258 is a lot closer to .333 (1-2) than it is to .000 (0-3). As you might expect is the case with any historically terrible team, their Pythagorean record (23-39, .370) indicates that they have been somewhat unlucky in their run distribution, meaning that their current wining percentage sells them a little short.

Tonight the Nats send their best pitcher, lefty John Lannan to face Chien Ming Wang. Even if Wang turns in by far his best performance of the year, the Yanks could very easily lose.

If the Yankees won two out of every three games, they would finish with 108 wins. Taking two out of three in this series is not a failure... it would improve their winning percentage on the year. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. As CC said after the he notched his sixth win of the season last night, "This is the big leagues, you can't take anyone lightly."

Swept Away

As far as sweeps go, that one was pretty bad. It occurred against the Red Sox, involved a blown save by Mariano Rivera, a fackin' Kevin Youkilis walk-off homer onto Landsdowne St., a grand slam by Jason Varitek, games called by Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan, and the coup de grace, a fucking steal of home by Jacoby Ellsfairy. 

It's only one run. It didn't decide the game. I'm guessing it probably won't happen again. But that perfectly placed the poo cherry right on top of the shit sundae that was this series. If you look closely at the replays (or watch the end of the slideshow below), you'll see that he tripped about 10 feet from home plate, which actually helped him barely sneak under the tag. The expression on Andy Pettitte's face pretty much says it all: 

It looks like he just watched someone kick his dog. Although, to complete the analogy, Pettitte would have been holding the leash when it happened. 

The only thing that eases the pain is the fact that this weekend was absolutely beautiful this weekend here on the Eastern seaboard, and still is. Would you trade three Yankee wins for three straight days of 50 degrees and rain? I'll get back to you in September. 

It's still April, and the Yanks are 9-9. They are heading to a pitcher's park and will have their ace on the hill tonight. I just hope this is the last sweep at the hands of the Sox this year, because this is (not surprisingly) the only song in my iTunes library that has anything to do with sweeping. 

[Disclaimer: It's only a little over a minute long, but please be sure to remove all sharp objects from your reach, because this show is about three times more depressing than I intended it to be.]